“Power sharing is the key component of the autonomy concept.”
With the scheduled parliamentary elections in 2025, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) takes a significant step in self-rule after decades of armed conflict between government forces and Muslim secessionist rebels.
But a little bit of history is necessary here. The creation of the BARMM in January 2019 is the end-result of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) or the final peace agreement signed between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on March 27, 2014.
The comprehensive agreement involved two tracks: the first on normalization, the second on the political system. Under the normalization track, the MILF would turn over their firearms to a third party to be selected by the rebels and the Philippine government, and decommission its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).
Under the political track, the government would work towards the creation of a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) created in 1989. The late former President Benigno Aquino III had described the ARMM as a “failed experiment.”
Power sharing is the key component of the autonomy concept. The ARMM charter had only listed 14 areas which were outside the powers of the regional legislature. Under the CAB, the parties listed 81 powers categorized into reserved for the central government, exclusive to the Bangsamoro, and concurrent with or shared by the two sides for power sharing. Of the 81 powers, 58 were devolved to the Bangsamoro, nine were reserved to the central government, and 14 were shared. The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro had four annexes covering Transitional Arrangements and Modalities, Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing, Power Sharing and Normalization, and the Addendum on Bangsamoro Waters.
Bangsamoro is going full-throttle with its first parliamentary elections amid the recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) but excluded Sulu from the region.
The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms the legal foundation of BARMM’s autonomy and parliamentary system, including the election of the Chief Minister. However, the court ruled that Sulu, which voted against joining BARMM in a 2019 plebiscite, should be excluded from the region.
“We are grateful for the Supreme Court’s affirmation of BARMM’s autonomous government and its parliamentary structure,” BARMM Cabinet Secretary and spokesperson Mohammad Asnin Pendatun said during our latest Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
“But we are deeply saddened and concerned by the ruling that excludes Sulu from BARMM,” he added.
The 2019 plebiscite saw 54 percent of Sulu residents voting against joining the ARMM. After five years of deliberation, the High Court sided with the decision of the majority of Sulu residents.
“This ruling has significant implications for BARMM,” Pendatun explained. Hence, the BARMM plans to file a motion for leave to intervene and a motion for partial reconsideration regarding SC’s recent ruling.
So why was Sulu excluded from BARMM? In 2018, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II questioned before the SC the legality of the BOL, arguing that ARMM cannot be abolished without amending the Constitution.
“As Sulu rejected the Bangsamoro Organic Law in the plebiscite, it was wrong to include the province in BARMM,” SC spokesperson Camille Ting said recently.
Pendatun argued that Sulu is very important in the BARMM: “We cannot speak about the Bangsamoro identity, the Bangsamoro struggle or the Bangsamoro narrative without the participation of Sulu.”
The Bangsamoro Cabinet Secretary, however, pointed out that the future bodes well for the future of autonomy under a new political entity in southern Philippines.
Pendatun disclosed that BARMM has already attracted P4 billion in investments so far this year, reflecting a significant improvement in the region’s peace and order situation. In fact, an upscale resort would soon be established in Tawi-Tawi that is expected to enhance tourism in the province.
Ample proof that the Bangsamoro is making steady progress in economic development is the substantial reduction in the poverty rate in the region from 52.3 percent in 2018 to 23.2 percent at present, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“This is a historic achievement for BARMM. For the first time, we are no longer the poorest region in the country. However, the 23 percent poverty rate still highlights the challenges we need to address moving forward,” according to the BARMM official. While the peace process has effectively addressed vertical conflicts involving revolutionary groups and security forces, Pendatun acknowledged that horizontal conflicts, such as clan wars (rido) and criminal activities still pose challenges. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
